Is Slinky Dog Dash really 60min waits at opening?

[Upatnoon]

It should also be noted that waiting in line at park opening is the worst use of your time. The other attractions will have low waits during the time you are waiting. If you miss the rope drop, you are better off doing other attractions and waiting later in the day.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

The line for Slinky is considerably shorter in the evening.

I checked the Touring Plans stats from yesterday for an example, and the actual wait about a half hour before closing time was reported at 16 minutes.

Mornings are just too crowded and stressful for this ride.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Did rope drop for for Slinky Dog on May 30th. Arrived at 7:30 and was about 10 people back at the tapstiles. They started letting people in at about 7:45. I immediately moved quickly up to the "rope" by the Trolley Car Cafe. I was able to line up only 1-2 people back from the front. By 8:00 the crowd had grown dramatically, and by 8:30, I couldn't see the back. At about 8:40, they started walking people back to Toy Story Land. They walked very slowly, and I kept up with the front of the pack. The crowd was not too pushy until right before we got to Slinky Dog, and then it wasn't too bad. I was on one of the first trains. I then went to Alien Swirling Saucers and rode with no wait. I then left Toy Story Land at 8:55. By then the wait was 75 minutes, and the line was past One Man's Dream.

This is a pretty good example. It sounds like you arrived 90 minutes early to ride once.

Just yesterday, you could have arrived 30 minutes before closing and rode at least twice and quite possibly 3 times before the park closed.

I like the 2nd plan better.

 

[shocker]

If we don't want to ride SDD, but go to TSMM or AS2, would we walk around that line? Haven't been to DHS since Toy Story Land opened! Thanks

Yes, at RD there will be the onslaught going to TSL and a smattering going to Sunset Blvd for ToT and RnR. Of those going to TSL, stay to the left as much as you're able, TSMM entrance is on the left and AS2 will be on your right beyond the SDD line.

After entering TSL, they will be shunting SDD riders to the right, making squeeze points to create a double-ish wide line, & will have a sign that slowly moves back as the line is formed to indicate where that line is at. Don't get in it...stay to the left.

ETA: after I RD SDD last week, then rode TSMM & was leaving TSL, the line for SDD was out of TSL and in front of One Man's Dream and the sign said 135 min.

 

[tink2]

We rope dropped SDD two weeks ago. 9:00 opening - we were inside the park and waiting at 8:15. When you get inside- go as far up as you can- casually- don’t have to push or shove- just make sure you get as close to the front as you can- where you are in the park is crucial. There were many rows of people in front of us- but once they let us in at 8:50- we kept up the pace of the pack - didn’t push or shove but definitely kept up- our party got separated close to the ride but got back together- waited maybe 10-15 minutes to ride. The ride was way better than expected for me!

 

[DisneyandBeerLover]

Yes or longer. The problem is EVERYONE that rope drops DHS rushes a single ride.

This is the line at 9:03 am. ALL the way back to the animation courtyard. There is usually a CM with a sign directly in front of the Little Mermaid gift shop with a sign that says "75 mins from this point"(that seems optimistic to me).

Luckily we were leaving an EMM at that time at not trying to get in that line.

EMM was seriously some of the best money spent at WDW, if possible: do it

 

[Shir Kahn]

Reports are saying that the demand is lower than something like Mine Train or Flight of Passage, but the in-park rope drop execution is less well-organized. So yes, to avoid waiting 60+ minutes in the queue line for Slinky Dog Dash, the recommendation is to arrive at the tapstyles 45-60 minutes before the park opens to be ahead of the pack. You are basically going to wait 60+ minutes either way, though, so its your call.

Another popular suggestion is to ride last thing at the end of the night, and you might find a shorter wait, closer to 30-45 minutes. But I wouldn't want to miss Fantasmic or the Star Wars Fireworks to ride Slinky Dog Dash - so that option doesn't really work for us.

The difference is, if you do your 60+ minute wait at the beginning, you don't lose all that park time because you did most of your waiting before the park opens!

 

[OKW8297]

Yeah we did rope drop and found ourselves with a posted 60 minute wait, but frankly it turned out to be more like 40 minutes. Well worth it and it moves pretty quickly. Rode again at 8:30 when park closed at 9. Posted 40 minutes waited 20. I love it. And it is even cooler in the dark.

 

[JH50]

We did the paid early morning hour the Tuesday before Memorial Day, and I remember complaining to my wife about the crowd during the event. I felt we overpaid until we left the land at rope drop and had to get around the crowd coming in. My jaw hit the floor at the amount of people entering, and quickly told her that it was worth every penny. I tied to upload the pictures I took, but the back of the crowd went past One Man's Dream. Unless you are in the front of pack, I can see why they automatically post a 60 minute wait.

 

[TheStork]

I rope dropped Slinky Dog on a Saturday morning in early March (Touring Plans gives that day at HS a 7/10,) arriving about an hour before open, and they opened the whole park about 15 minutes early. My actual wait from arriving in Toy Story Land, walking through the ride queue, and getting on was only about 20 minutes, but as I was walking out the line was already snaking back to the front of TSL and it was over an hour for standby already.

 

[super7wdw]

Yes. Last Friday we were there and we arrived in TSL at 8:50 and there was a CM holding a sign where the line ended.... the sign read "65 minutes."

 

[rg35]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond. It sounds like we'll try to arrive early. DHS opens at 9 that day, so even getting there by 8, we won't have to wake up too early. We typically rope drop anyway, and a normal day for us at home is waking up at 6:30 to get ready for work and school, so this won't really be much of a departure from our normal routine.

 

[Kerriowl]

Yes. We rope dropped Toy Story land, but headed for Alien Swirling Saucers instead of Slinky Dog since we had a fastpass for later in the day. We were able to do Aliens twice with no wait and then head to TSM which had a 15 minute wait. Slinky Dog hits 60 probably within 5 minutes of the rope drop crowd getting there.

 

[princessebird]

We did the paid early morning hour the Tuesday before Memorial Day, and I remember complaining to my wife about the crowd during the event. I felt we overpaid until we left the land at rope drop and had to get around the crowd coming in. My jaw hit the floor at the amount of people entering, and quickly told her that it was worth every penny. I tied to upload the pictures I took, but the back of the crowd went past One Man's Dream. Unless you are in the front of pack, I can see why they automatically post a 60 minute wait.

This was my experience exactly. We did EMM and I was perturbed at the crowds and the waits. But then I saw the crowds descend up on the land at 8:50 and then the land in full-on craziness at 10:30, and I got over it (not that I would do it AGAIN, but it was worth it once). This is what happens when TPTB decide not to invest in a park. For years, the approach to DHS was subtraction. With the addition of TSL there is a total of a whopping six rides, and three of them are over 20 years old and four are over 10 years old. The remaining 2 include a respectable roller coaster and a silly whip ride. Yes, yes, there are shows (but that doesn't affect rope drop) and there are three more rides in the offing, but in the now there is exactly one ride of interest to the majority of guests. The guest experience at DHS is pretty abysmal, and it's unclear if that will change anytime soon.

 

[goofybabe]

Wow gonna be a long hot sweltering day on Aug.18 as we attempt to wait it it out with our granddaughter .She really wants to ride this one .Our 1st alone trip Grandpa and Grandma .No fast passes available at all for this one

 

[JH50]

Wow gonna be a long hot sweltering day on Aug.18 as we attempt to wait it it out with our granddaughter .She really wants to ride this one .Our 1st alone trip Grandpa and Grandma .No fast passes available at all for this one

It may be a long shot, but you never know when a FP for SDD will show up. Do you have the My Disney Experience App installed on your phone? If so, you can check right up until your trip to see if (3) become available. It doesn't hurt to keep checking! Another option is the pay for the Early Morning Magic if it available during your stay. While it killed me to pay the extra money, it made our visit to TSL much more enjoyable (and less crowded).

 

[disneygirlsng]

Yes. We rope dropped Toy Story land, but headed for Alien Swirling Saucers instead of Slinky Dog since we had a fastpass for later in the day. We were able to do Aliens twice with no wait and then head to TSM which had a 15 minute wait. Slinky Dog hits 60 probably within 5 minutes of the rope drop crowd getting there.

Can I ask what time you got to the park? I'm going next week and plan on heading to TSM at rope drop. Trying to avoid the craziness that goes for SDD. I figure we dont need to be there as early as we would if we were going to SDD, but dont want to be waiting too long either.

 

[Truxi]

This probably isn't the most useful advice, but if you wind up at the parks on a day that's raining (but no lightning)...head for Toy Story Land. Especially toward the latter half of the day when folks with younger kids have more or less given up.

Seriously, we walked onto the ride. Twice. Like, a ten minute wait. Probably could've done it a few more times, but we wanted to try to catch Fantasmic (moot. it got cancelled partway through).

 

[revdon64]

I am hoping that I can adjust our FP the day of or the night before.

Don't count on it. I had a 2pm FP for SDD for one person, just me, back in January. I tried every day for the 60 days leading up to that day to move my time to something earlier with zero luck. One person!

 

[sparkle78]

Yes , end of night will say 90 min wait, but as long as you are in the line on the bridge or a little past ( but way in front of sign with photographer ) it won’t be 90, but closer to 40 mins.